Aleutian Campaign Anti-Shipping Hellcat

[AeroplaneDriver]

After the "Doolittle Raid" on Tokyo many in Japan's leadership worried that the US had a secret base in the western Aleutian Islands and that was were the raid launched from.  In an effort to both distract from the buildup to the Battle of Midway and to protect Japan's northern flank an invasion of the Aleutian Islands was launched.   The Japanese occupied Attu Island in June 1942, but the island was reclaimed by US forces in May 1943.  But What If...?

The Japanese quickly established a base on Attu Island with the intention of using it as a base to launch raids on the US northwest.  The US rapidly reinforced Alaska with an airbase established on Adak Island.  The Aleutian Campaign was a hard fought battle in harsh conditions with the Japanese heavily reinforcing the islands by sea and establishing their own air base on Attu.  To counter the Japanese naval threat the US Navy modified 24 F6F-5 Hellcat fighters to carry two 37mm cannons in underwing pods, as well as the Tiny Tim anti-ship rocket on a centerline pylon.  The six .50 caliber machine guns were replaced with two 20mm cannons as these were seen as more effective against shipping targets while retaining a dogfighting ability.   

In winter 1944 the 24 Adak based Hellcats were modified to add a crude deicing system to allow operations in the harsh climate.  A liquid deicing system similar to the British TKS system was installed along the outer wing leading edge, consisting of a tube on the leading edge that would "weep" glycol across the wing to inhibit ice formation.  A similar system would pump fluid over the windshield and a ring assembly behind the propeller would allow centrifugal force to deposit fluid across the propeller blades. 

As the Aleutian Hellcats were exclusively land-based the wing fold mechanism and arresting hook were removed to save weight. Other carrier specific hardware was removed allowing the installation of a fuselage fuel tank and the deice fluid tanks.  Even with the additional anti-icing equipment the weather in the Aleutians was more of a threat than the Japanese, with 8 of the 24 aircraft being lost, 6 in weather related accidents and only two to enemy action.  The 24 Hellcats proved a successful modification however with 14 Japanese vessels, mostly smaller ships, sunk and a further 6 damaged.  Aleutian Hellcats also claimed 5 air-to-air kills with their 20mm guns. 

The kit is the Eduard 1/48 Hellcat Mk.II that I started months ago, but lost my mojo.  Restarted last week and finally got it finished.  I wanted a heavily weathered look for an aircraft in a harsh environment where every minute of maintenance time is spent making the aircraft airworthy, not pretty.  I painted it Dark Sea Blue first with some patches of silver and Green Zinc Chromate.  Then after sealing and spraying with hairspray I applied all over Insignia white.  I painted fairy crudely as it would have been in the real world when painted in the field.  Then I weather it with a stiff wet paintbrush to reveal the blue underneath.  My master plan forgot to consider decals, and putting crisp decals on top to the white seemed unrealistic so I roughly masked off areas the the decals and spray Dark Sea Blue again and applied white decals from a mix of Hellcat and Corsair kits.  I kept decaling to a bare minimum with only national insignia, identifying numbers and the small "Navy" and "F6F-5" markings under the horizontal stabilizer.  This one also got a single kill marking under the canopy.   

The 37mm cannon pods are Sea Fury external tanks with barrels from Stuka 37mm cannon pods.  The wing cannons are from a Spitfire and the Tiny Tim rocket is a KMC resin rocket mounted on a cut-down F-80 wing pylon.  The deice tubes on the leading edge are styrene rod, but otherwise it is pretty much OOB.  A fun kit, but I'd rank it a little lower that Hasegawa's Hellcats. 

[Pellson]

 

[zenrat]

Love the paint.

[Dizzyfugu]

Very neat! I am just curious about the Stars-and-Bars on the right wing? Intentionally (since it should be placed on the left wing ), or "accident"? And the Tiny Tim has very little ground clearance? One of the wing root pylons would probably have been a better place to hang it (it was carried there IRL, too)?

The finish of the worn white is very good, nevertheless. 

[PR19_Kit]

Looks suitably lethal. 

[Rheged]

Looks good, and the backstory is based on enough accurate history to suitably boggle and befuddle the usual critics.    WELL DONE!!

[NARSES2]

Looks good, and the backstory is based on enough accurate history to suitably boggle and befuddle the usual critics.    WELL DONE!!

Very much so 

I was wondering where you were going to hang the Tiny Tim.....now I know 

[AeroplaneDriver]

Very neat! I am just curious about the Stars-and-Bars on the right wing? Intentionally (since it should be placed on the left wing ), or "accident"? And the Tiny Tim has very little ground clearance? One of the wing root pylons would probably have been a better place to hang it (it was carried there IRL, too)?

The finish of the worn white is very good, nevertheless. 

The right wing insignia is purely accidental.  I masked off an area to paint blue and got distracted just as I was about to start taping and when I jumped back in I did the wrong wing.  Realized it as soon as I finished painting the blue.  Decided to just go with it. 

I considered the wing oylon for the Tiny Tim but in the end centerline won out.  Clearance is tight but it works.   

[Dizzyfugu]

 

[buzzbomb]

Different fit out that works for me

[perttime]

Looks used 

I think it needed a pretty smooth runway for take offs.

[Old Wombat]

 

[comrade harps]

I  the aesthetic of that! 

[Wurgerman]

Corsairs were known to have stars on both wings, just a suggestion !

Wurgerman

[kerick]

Great build and story! Love the worn away white paint. Did you paint white and then rub off sections or is it all airbrush work?